Alex James appointed the world's first travel laureate
- Mar 19, 2010
Virgin Holidays + Hip Hotels has recruited Alex James to join them in the role of Travel Laureate, in their efforts to reinvigorate the world of travel literature. With over 8.5million UK adults admitting they find travel guidebooks ‘boring and staid’, VHip Hotels has tasked James to pen a series of first-hand destination-themed novels entitled ‘The VHip Collective’ that aim to excite and inspire the reader and provide a new, modern alternative to the traditional guide book.
The campaign was developed by VHip Hotels following a noted increase in customers asking their Travel Gurus for advice on where they could get interesting travel literature to help get them in the mood for their holiday. Deciding to solve the problem, VHip Hotels conducted research with over 2000 British holidaymakers to understand their opinions around travel books.
One of the key findings from the research, was a fifth (20%) of holidaymakers would prefer to know about undiscovered places and secret hotspots, rather than just follow the tourist trail. In his role as Travel Laureate, James has been tasked with writing fiction that not only evokes the atmosphere of selected destinations around the world but also imparts insider knowledge on what to see and do when visiting those places.
Some other interesting insights include:
· Almost a third (32%) of holidaymakers would never use a guidebook to plan their trip, with less than 1 in 10 (9%) saying they wouldn’t travel on holiday without a guidebook
· Over a fifth (22%) admitted they only value travel guides when planning budget holidays and backpacking
· 1 in 6 (15%) think guidebooks are impersonal and contain irrelevant information which doesn’t excite them about their holiday
· Almost 1 in 5 (18%) think they often contain too much information and can take too long to read through them
The first book in the series to be published will focus on Alex’s recent trip to New York - a fast-paced and punchy tale in which he compares a recent visit to a trip back in 1995 during his Blur heyday and enjoys the range of boutique hotels New York style. The second book is centred on a trip to Jamaica, and the third book is a collection of short stories penned by the VHip Hotel Travel Gurus, which include some great hints and tips for people visiting and enjoying luxury hotels in Thailand, the Maldives and of course the luxury hotels Morocco.
A limited number of books will be available to order free from www.vhiphotels.com website, and VHip customers travelling through Gatwick Airport will be able to pick up a copy with a limited number available in the v-room, the world's first and only airport lounge dedicated to people going on holiday.
The newly appointed Travel Laureate, Alex James, comments, “I’ve recently been given the fabulous title of Travel Laureate… it means I get to travel to and write about beautiful wildly interesting locations. It’s a great gig. As humans we love to escape the everyday. Reading about travel, travelling, reading – the result is always the same – escape. With the VHip Collective, the stories really help to give a feel for the destination. They have even included some of my favourite places to visit when you arrive so it acts like a travel guide at the same time. Beautiful and useful; the best combination.”
Andrew Shelton, Marketing Director at Virgin Holidays comments: “As the Virgin Holidays and Hip Hotels partnership gains more traction as a brand, it’s important that we listen to our customers to ensure we’re constantly surprising them and exceeding their expectations – so they’ll come back to us time and again. We want to give them more than just a holiday, and working with Alex in his role as Travel Laureate will allow us to do just that. He’s the man about town who knows the right people, and the right places – which is exactly what our customers are looking for.”
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